drop in the bucket

There's a tiny bit of good news on the so-called Patriot Act. The House voted to block a provision that makes it easier for the FBI to snoop into library and bookstore records. Luckily both conservatives and liberals saw the danger in this Big Brother clause, and voted 238 to 187 against.

"Congress has begun to hear that civil liberties and privacy issues are important to Americans," said Representative Bernard Sanders, the independent from Vermont who led the effort to block the provision through a $57.5 billion spending measure. It covers the Justice, State and Commerce departments as well as federal science programs.

The White House has threatened to veto the measure if it impedes the Patriot Act, and Mr. Bush as recently as Tuesday personally urged lawmakers to renew the law.

"The Patriot Act is an important piece of legislation," Mr. Bush told Republican lawmakers at a fund-raising dinner. "It gives those folks who are on the front line of fighting terror the same tools - many of the same tools that are used to track down drug kingpins or tax cheats."

What about deserters? Liars? Anything in that bill to catch treasonous lying scum like you?

There may even be enough votes in Congress to over-ride the veto. This doesn't go nearly far enough, of course. But it's good to see a few members of Congress are awake.